Fort Lauderdale Advertises to LGBT Travelers in New Campaign

Fort Lauderdale is breaking down barriers with their latest tourism marketing campaign. Three advertisements feature LGBT people along with heterosexuals. Showcasing gay, lesbian, and transgender models exemplifies Greater Fort Lauderdale’s commitment to being an authentic, diverse, and inclusive destination.

The new ads appear in multiple national outlets through print, television, radio, and social media. The campaign premiered New Year’s Eve on a Times Square billboard video which featured Isabella Santiago, a Venezuelan model and 2014 Miss World Transgender.

“Using Trans models in our mainstream campaign says who we are as a destination; cosmopolitan, edgy, diverse, inclusive, authentic and accepting,” said Richard Gray, Managing Director LGBTQ Market, Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau. “We are the only destination in the world that is using Trans people in mainstream marketing initiatives. That is a huge statement in itself highlighting this destination’s commitment to diversity, inclusion and equality. We want all travelers that visit our destination to be free to be themselves, to be free to be accepted, and most of all to be safe and respected.”

The Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau became the first to hire a gay-centric vacation planner in 1996, and has since been dedicated to LGBT inclusion. They now welcome 1.5 million LGBT visitors a year. It was recently the host of the Southern Comfort Transgender Conference, the largest trans conference in North America.